(A/N-Special thanks to Bekki boo for beta reading this. And to those who read, review, follow, fav.)

It was almost another twenty four hours before Regina finally collapsed into her own bed. Trembling with exhaustion, clasping the same pink cardigan she'd worn in Mexico more tightly over her arms, she sank down on her bed. She was home. Nothing had changed and yet Regina looked at Robin's form looking at her from the doorway. A few of her distant family members were downstairs, including her father's dear sister and her grandchildren.

Her mother was getting better and she had come home for the time being. Robin had brought her home to rest. She looked up at him, "Thank you."

Blinking, he glanced back at her. "For what?"

"For bringing me back and everything you did for my mother," Regina answered.

He shrugged, "I did nothing."

"You're wrong," she said softly. "You brought me home."

He gave her a wry smile. "Your mother didn't know whether to hug me or slap me, did she?"

When they'd arrived a few hours earlier, Robin had already summoned the top cardiologist to meet them at the hospital. The doctor had run tests on her mother's heart and confirmed it hadn't been an actual attack, but an 'episode' that was no lasting cause for concern, as long as Cora didn't over exert herself.

Cora had stubbornly told them it was because of the worry about Regina being gone.

And no wonder. Regina had discovered that Leopold had explained her disappearance by telling them Regina was a runaway bride who'd changed her mind and couldn't be bothered to contact her family. That was his big explanation!

Regina growled. If she hadn't hated Leopold before, she'd have certainly hated him now. Rather than admit any of his own guilt, he'd left Regina in the position of having to explain to her mother, who was still in the hospital for observation, at the cardiologist's insistence, why Regina had disappeared for days on her wedding day, only to reappear here today with another man on her arm.

Thank heaven for Robin. He'd been her rock through all of this. Looking up now at the set of his jaw, at the hard lines of his handsome face as he moved and stared out the window of her bedroom, Regina blinked back tears. When she'd tried to explain to her family what had happened, she floundered helplessly.

Then Robin had stepped in. He'd gently explained to her mother that Leopold had lied, that he'd never been free to wed and that he, Robin, had kidnapped Regina from her own wedding to force him to admit he already had a wife. Robin had quietly faced down her family's wrath and blame, and told them he was sorry. He'd been kind and courteous.

The only thing he hadn't told them was that he and Regina had become lovers. Which, in this family, was probably for the best.

Now he was in Regina's bedroom. This handsome, powerful man, who'd been so good to her family. This devastatingly strong man who'd moved heaven and earth to bring Regina home in record time. This ruthless man who she knew had a good heart, no matter how he might try to hide it. This man she loved.

Looking at his figure in front of the window, she suddenly trembled in a way that had nothing to do with exhaustion.

"Why did you bring me home?" She rose slowly to her feet. "The local sheriff is a friend of the family. He lives just down the street."

He stared at her, and for the first time she noticed the dark circles under his eyes. "If you want to escape, or have me arrested, I know I cannot stop you now."

"So why did you do it? Why risk bringing me back here, when you knew you might lose me as a bargaining chip to get Marian, or worse?"

He looked down at the floor. "Because your family means everything to you." He smiled to himself. "I had forgotten how a family could be."

"Was your childhood so different?"

His jaw clenched as he turned back to the windows. "For a while I had a real family, my parents loved one another. Then my father was falsely accused by a greedy investor. He stole from the company and lied that it was my father who did it. The stress made my father have a heart attack and die. My mother tried her best to take care of us, as I tried to help out as well. I sold everything I had to try to help my mother clothe and feed us. It was no use though, she caught a very bad cold and lingered on for a year and also died."

"Oh, Robin, I'm so sorry," Regina said as she stared at him, pain cutting around her heart. She thought of the little boy, orphaned by his parent's deaths.

"I swore to make the bastard who tore my family apart, pay," Robin said as he looked at her.

Regina saw something in Robin's eyes, and suddenly knew, "It was Leopold wasn't it?"

He didn't answer, he didn't have to.

Regina's heart was in her throat. Coming behind him, she wrapped her arms around him, pressing her cheek to his back. "I'm sorry."

"Now you know what I am," he said in a low voice. "Now you know why you'd be a fool to love me. Even you. Especially you."

But I do, she thought, her heart aching in her chest. I do love you.

Her lips parted to speak the words, but at that moment her bedroom door was pushed open with a loud squeak. Her aunt stood in the doorway, Hannah Rhodes took one look at the couple and put her hands on her hips.

"Now, you two," she said warningly. She turned to Robin with a greater show of warmth. "Mr. Locksley-"

"Robin," he corrected her with a smile.

"Robin, we've set you up for the night in a guest room down the hall. I'll show you," Hannah glanced between them sharply. "But there'll be no funny business tonight. I mean it."

"Of course not, ma'am," Robin said meekly. He looked at Regina, and his blue eyes danced with sudden laughter. Then he sobered. "Get some sleep, Regina. We leave for Las Vegas in the morning, if your mother is still holding her own."

As the door closed, Regina sucked in her breath. In the morning. The trade.

Pushing the painful reminder away, Regina stared at the closed door as she changed into some pajamas. She called a co-worker first to see how little Henry was doing, she was relieved that he was doing well. She thought back to how Robin seemed to fit in with her family in a way like nothing she had seen.

"Regina," Hannah said from the doorway with a cup of peppermint tea. She handed it to Regina and took a seat beside her.

"I always hoped when you finally settled down, you would bring home a man who's just regular folk, like us." She paused. "A man like the one who's sleeping right now down the hall."

Regina nearly snorted peppermint tea out of her nose hearing Robin Locksley, the international millionaire, described by her aunt as regular folk.

"Anyway, I'm thankful your mother is better." Her aunt rose from the bed with a tender smile. "And you're home. Everything will work out now." She paused at the door, her hands on her hips as she swiveled around, her eyes narrowed. "But I meant what I said, no funny business under my nose."

Regina went to the hall bathroom, and after brushing her teeth, she paused at his closed door. Tomorrow, she would tell him that she loved him before they reached Las Vegas. Tomorrow, before he traded her for Marian and her chance was lost, forever.

Regina had a miracle of a family. Of her mother who was getting better. Having Robin love her back would be too much to ask. But tomorrow, Regina would take her courage in her hands and do it.

Robin heard a knock on his door.

Regina.

She'd come to him, in spite of her aunt's warning. With an intake of breath, he hurried from the bed and reached for the door. Then he stopped. He knew what would happen if he invited her into his bedroom. He knew. Making love to Regina was all he could think about. He felt enveloped in love. And he knew it wasn't just the house.

It was Regina. She loved him.

She hadn't spoken the words. But he'd been able to see it on her beautiful face. She'd never learned to lie. Her expressive eyes were an open book for him to read. She'd seen him at his worst, she knew what he'd done, and yet she loved him. How was it possible?

Clenching his hands into fists, Robin took a deep breath. He heard her waiting on the other side of the door, waiting for him to open it and let her in. It was like agony, knowing she was there and still doing nothing. Finally, he heard her give up and her footsteps disappear down the hall.

He exhaled. Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the door.

He wanted her. Now more than ever.

But it was more than that. It had become far more than lust. More an admiration. More even than respect.

She was the most loving woman he'd ever met. Honest. Sweet. Kind. Brave. She was the kind of woman who could make any man, even him, become decent and true, just by the effect of her presence.

He loved her.

His body straightened, his eyes opened, wide with shock.

He was in love with her.

Robin, a man who had nothing in this world but money and power, nothing of value, had fallen in love with a woman who made everything glorious and new. The most precious, adorable, passionate woman in the world.

He wasn't remotely worthy of her. And yet he ached to be. He ached to take her in his arms, to tell her he loved her, to make her his wife and treasure her forever. Eagerly, he grabbed the door handle.

Then he froze.

He loved her. But he'd made a promise to trade her. A promise that would save Marian.

He'd made a promise. He had no choice.

But Regina did.

Going back to the window, he swung the led paned glass open and took a deep breath of the cold night air. For once in his life, he would give himself up to someone else's control. To Regina's. The truth was, he admitted quietly to himself, the power had always been hers.

He stared at the moonlight. From the moment they'd met, he'd thought he'd been the one in control. He'd been her captor, she'd been his prisoner. But she had always been the more powerful one, though neither of them had realized it. And tomorrow, she would decide his fate.

Reaching for his phone, he dialed. The first number was to his lawyer. The second was a hated number he knew by heart.

"Blanchard," he said. "I'm ready to trade."